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My Journey Building a Second Brain with Obsidian

The concept of building a second brain has fundamentally changed how I manage my personal knowledge. What started as scattered notes and forgotten ideas has evolved into a dynamic and interconnected network of information. My “second brain,” built using Obsidian, is constantly growing and allowing me to see connections I would have otherwise missed. This system helps me access and utilize my accumulated knowledge effectively.

Why I Chose Obsidian

For me, the choice of Obsidian came down to a few critical factors. Firstly, and most importantly, my notes are entirely my own. Obsidian stores them locally as Markdown files, giving me complete control over my data. I can access them directly through my file explorer, back them up as I see fit, integrate them with version control systems like Git, and even use them with other tools. This level of ownership was a key differentiator for me compared to platforms where exporting data is difficult or where internet access is always required.

Secondly, Obsidian’s ability to create connections between my notes through internal links and backlinks is invaluable. This bidirectional linking system allows me to build my own personal “Wikipedia” of knowledge. Visualizing these relationships with the local graph view helps me discover connections between seemingly unrelated ideas, transforming raw information into knowledge and, eventually, recognizing patterns that lead to deeper understanding.

Finally, the vibrant community plugin ecosystem offers a vast array of extensions that have allowed me to tailor Obsidian to my specific needs without having to code everything myself. And for those with programming skills, including myself, Obsidian’s foundation on Electron and JavaScript enables the development of custom plugins for highly specific workflows. I’ve even developed a couple of plugins to further enhance my system.

Core Principles Guiding My Note-Taking

My approach to note-taking is guided by several key principles. The most fundamental is the understanding that “the faintest ink is better than the best memory“. Our memories are fallible, and written records provide a much more reliable way to capture and recall information. Effective note-taking, for me, means capturing information in a way that ensures future retrieval. This benefits me first and foremost by allowing for self-review and providing a tangible record for future reference, helping me remember past actions and decisions. Furthermore, well-organized notes facilitate clear communication and can be easily shared with others. Visualizing tasks and documenting decisions, as I’ve learned, significantly improves understanding and saves time in the long run.

I also resonate with the idea of a “second brain system” as a solution to the overwhelming amount of information we encounter. This system involves a “transfer of knowledge” through input, processing, and output, with effective capture being a crucial initial step. Another guiding principle is David Allen’s powerful statement: “your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them“. By externalizing information through note-taking, I free up my cognitive capacity for more creative and analytical thinking, rather than simply trying to remember everything.

How I Use Obsidian in My Daily Life

Obsidian has become an integral part of various aspects of my life. Here are some examples:

• Personal Growth: I capture interesting information, like movie recommendations, allowing me to revisit them when I have the time.
• Connecting Concepts: I actively link seemingly unrelated ideas to foster a deeper understanding. For instance, I’ve explored the connection between the mechanics of Avengers: Endgame and how a kit works, leading to surprising insights.
• Research and Organization: When researching topics like speech-to-text tools, I track different applications and the underlying models they use, revealing valuable relationships within my notes.
• Task Management: Using plugins like DataView, I create dynamic to-do lists that aggregate tasks from various notes based on specific criteria, providing a unified view of my commitments.
• Knowledge Sharing and Preparation: When preparing for discussions or sharing information, I can easily condense and organize relevant notes, sharing specific parts of my knowledge without exposing everything.
• Incident Management: Documenting and categorizing incidents within my team helps identify recurring issues and prioritize solutions based on past experiences.
• Personal Reflection: I’ve even imported years of journal entries into Obsidian and used AI to identify patterns and extract insights from my past reflections.
• Project Management: For personal projects, like creating a themed outfit for a music festival, Obsidian helps me organize information, resources, and even automate the publishing of project-related notes as a static website.
• Personal Finance: I track my daily expenses in Obsidian, allowing for later analysis and better financial planning.
• Tracking Interests: I maintain records of my music preferences, fitness activities, and other personal interests within my Obsidian vault.
• Interview Summaries: By noting key points during interviews, I can use AI to summarize the pros and cons of candidates from individual notes, helping me review information efficiently while still maintaining my own judgment.
• Managing Interruptions: I even track ad-hoc requests and interruptions to understand how my time is being used and identify patterns.

Important Considerations for Using Obsidian

While Obsidian offers numerous benefits, there are important considerations to keep in mind:

• Security: Never store sensitive personal information directly in your Obsidian vault due to the potential risks associated with community plugins. Password managers are essential for handling such data.
• Backups: Implementing a reliable backup strategy for your local notes is crucial to prevent data loss.
• Time Investment and Distraction: Setting up and customizing Obsidian effectively requires an initial time investment and can have a learning curve. There’s also a risk of becoming overly focused on tweaking the application rather than the core task of note-taking. It took me a couple of months to establish a working system.
• Potential for Addiction: Obsidian can be quite addictive, with users potentially spending more time on customization than actual note-taking. It’s important to always keep the original purpose of note-taking in mind.
• Native App Limitations: The native Obsidian app, while functional, has room for improvement due to the relatively small development team.

The Compounding Power of Knowledge

Building my second brain with Obsidian is an ongoing journey where knowledge compounds over time. Each new piece of information I capture and connect adds to the overall value and interconnectedness of my knowledge system. This continuous growth leads to increasingly valuable insights and creative connections. The visual evolution of my knowledge graph over the past several months clearly demonstrates this compounding effect.

Integrating AI to Enhance My Workflow

Integrating AI tools like ChatGPT has further enhanced my productivity within Obsidian. For example, I use AI to summarize interview notes, quickly identifying key pros and cons. I also leverage AI to ask questions about my personal journal entries, gaining new perspectives on my past experiences. Creating custom GPTs has streamlined tasks like generating IPA transcriptions, synonyms, and example sentences for new vocabulary I encounter in my notes. While I didn’t use AI to generate the slides for this presentation, I see its potential for such tasks in the future.

Recommendations for Getting Started

For those interested in embarking on their own journey with Obsidian, I recommend exploring these resources:

• The CODE system (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express).
• These guiding principles: “the faintest ink is better than the best memory,” “know yourself,” and “the magic of compounding interest“.
• The official Obsidian website.
• My starter kit, a public and open-source project that can serve as a foundation for your own vault.

I envision a community where Obsidian learners can connect and support each other. This exploration of personal knowledge management with Obsidian is just the beginning of a powerful and transformative practice.